KARACHI: Balochistan government spokesperson Anwarul Haq Kakar, on Thursday, said that the insurgency in Balochistan can only be dealt with brute force and the federal government should give up on dialogue with the insurgents.
He expressed these views while speaking at a seminar titled “Balochistan: Challenges, Opportunities and Role for Pakistan Development” organised by the Global Think Tank Network (GTTN) at National University of Science and Technology (NUST), Islamabad.
He said that how “the criminal elements and most wanted people involved in the killing of civilians and security personnel” could be given concession; they are needed to be dealt with iron hands.
Kakar said that the reconciliation policy would not work anymore as it miserably failed in Karachi, where police officials were killed on daily basis by the Muttahida Quomi Movement (MQM).
However, he said that when a full-fledged Rangers operation was launched in the metropolitan, peace restored in the restive city and same is the case in the tribal belt [FATA], where security situation improved considerably after launching military offensives.
“Love and hate relation between Baloch leadership and military regimes continued, but it was Hyderabad conspiracy case during General Zia-ul-Haq regime that generated two schools of thoughts one of led by Nawab Khair Bakhsh Marri and Ghaus Bakhsh Bizenjo,” he added.
Kakar said that Marri resorted to armed struggle to get Baloch rights, while Ghaus Baskhs believed on peaceful negotiation and political engagements to sort out the issues.
“Marri believed that “bullet, not ballot” is the sole answer to Punjab dominated Pakistan or else they won’t gave them their due rights, hence he turned to violent movement,” he added.
He said that during the 2000s, conditions in the province were “relatively calm”, but with the unfortunate and the arrest of Khair Baksh Marri along with six sons for the alleged murder of Balochistan High Court judge Nawaz Marri made things worse. He also claimed that the killing of Akbar Bugti had nothing to do with worsening of the situation.
Talking about China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), he that it was the project due to which federal government started giving importance to long-deprived Balochistan, as earlier no one was bothered about common Baloch.
Kakar said that the people have valid reasons to raise questions about the mega project, but the federal government failed to take the federating units into confidence regarding the project, which is an important issue.
In Balochistan, there is an issue of resource mismanagement, but it is also a fact there is a lack of resources so additional and urgent resources are needed to develop the long-deprived province because at present there are two Pakistan one is urban and other is rural, he added.
“There is need to shift the development paradox; the people of Islamabad, DHA Lahore and Karachi cannot be compared with the cities of Balochistan as there are no comparison. He urged the rulers to revisit their development policies in order to bring Balochistan in the national mainstream.
